Construction of Britain’s new high-speed railway has passed a major milestone with excavation of the 8.4-mile Northolt Tunnel under London. The fourth of four tunnel boring machines (TBMs) being used to dig the twin-bore tunnel – the second-longest on the HS2 route between London and the West Midlands – completed its work yesterday. The machine, […]
Category: HS2
HS2 completes three-day Northants viaduct slide
HS2 has revealed new timelapse footage showing engineers carefully sliding a 1,300-tonne viaduct deck into position near the Northants village of Thorpe Mandeville. The steel and concrete deck of the Lower Thorpe viaduct – which stretches for 220 metres – was assembled to one side before being slid into position in just three days, reaching […]
Mike Brown announced as chair of HS2 Ltd as Transport Secretary reveals project reset
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has confirmed that Mike Brown will be taking over as HS2 Ltd Chair, working alongside CEO Mark Wild to deliver a programme reset, including reviewing the costs and schedule, renegotiating HS2’s large construction contracts, and reviewing HS2 Ltd’s skills and structure. The Transport Secretary has asked Mark Wild to be ready […]
Third HS2 tunnelling machine completes its drive beneath London
HS2’s tunnelling team in London is one step closer to completing the capital’s Northolt Tunnel after the latest in a series of complex tunnelling breakthroughs. The tunnel boring machine (TBM), named Emily, completed its 3.4-mile drive at Green Park Way in Greenford, west London – the third of four machines to complete its work on […]
Lift off! Giant HS2 tunnelling machine to be given a new lease of life
After completing the 3.5-mile mission to excavate the first section of the Bromford Tunnel, linking North Warwickshire and Birmingham, HS2’s giant tunnel boring machine (TBM) Mary Ann is being stripped down ready to take on her next tunnelling adventure. The first stage in the process to disassemble the 1,600-tonne machine saw the TBM’s 8.62-metre diameter […]
First platforms for HS2 installed at Old Oak Common
HS2 has today [Thursday 29th May 2025] revealed the first section of platform to be installed for Britain’s new high-speed railway. In the underground box at HS2’s Old Oak Common station, engineers have begun installing the platform slabs which passengers will use when boarding or alighting high-speed trains in the future. Six platforms are being […]